In biomanufacturing, growth factors and cytokines are crucial for the cultivation and maintenance of cell cultures, particularly in the production of therapeutic proteins, vaccines, and other biologics. Just a few growth factors are widely used.
Chemokines are promising modalities in the treatment of disease. These small signaling proteins, primarily known for their role in directing the movement of immune cells, are now being explored for their therapeutic potential in a range of conditions, from cancer to chronic inflammatory diseases.
Creating a chemokine or growth factor concentration gradient is a crucial lab technique for studying cell migration, particularly in neuroscience, immunology and cancer research. Sustained release growth factors can simplify chemotaxis studies.
As well as causing the proliferation of cells, growth factors can promote differentiation and even the death of cells. For example, the differentiation of neuronal progenitor cells to functional neuronal cells is regulated by so-called neurotrophic growth factors. As with the proliferative growth factors, neurotrophic growth factors initiate a complex cascade of events by binding to receptor proteins that span the cell surface:
Growth factors are crucial proteins in regulating various cellular processes, including differentiation and cell division. Simulation of cell division is triggered when particular growth factors bind cell receptors. This triggers a cascade of events through a series of steps that result in mitosis and cell division.
Most growth factors produce a sigmoidal dose response curve. However, biphasic responses can also be generated, even from a single receptor. The specific reasons underlying a biphasic dose response caused by FGF-2 biding to FGFR1 have been elucidated.
Metabolism in multicellular organisms is a complex interplay of biochemical processes that can be broadly categorized into two types: catabolism and anabolism. These processes, that are essential for maintaining life, enabling growth, and ensuring the proper functioning of cells and tissues, are controlled by growth factors and hormones.
Growth factors are critical to many aspects of cell culture including proliferation, differentiation and maintenance. Whilst the effects of insufficient growth factor, such as lack of proliferation, are readily apparent, the effects of adding too much growth factor can be less apparent but equally important.
Low-level chronic inflammation is a hallmark of ageing. A recent article in Nature suggests the goals of longevity research to increase healthspan, as well as lifespan, may be achieved by simply inhibiting an inflammatory cytokine.
It is important to understand that there is a big difference between in vivo and in vitro stability of growth factors. In-vivo, growth factor half-lives can be just a few minutes. But the same growth factors have in-vitro half-lives of a few hours. What causes this?
